Something wrong right now

Four short plans for the moment something goes wrong: someone is asking for money or a code, you already paid, you cannot get into an account, or your phone is lost. No setup needed.

Pick the plan that fits. Do the first step now; the rest can follow. Scams can happen to anyone, and the person at fault is the scammer.

Someone is asking for money, a code or access right now

1. Stop talking. Hang up the phone, or close the message or the window.
2. Do not pay. No real bank, company or agency asks for gift cards, a wire transfer, cryptocurrency, a crypto ATM, a payment app or cash for a courier.
3. Do not read out a code from a text or an app, and do not let anyone connect to your computer.
4. Call the organization yourself at a number you already have: the back of your card, a statement, or a site you type in. Caller ID can be faked.
5. If it was about a family member, call that person at the number you have for them.

The four signs: they pretend to be someone you know, they say there is a problem or a prize, they push you to act now, and they tell you how to pay (recognizing scams).

You already paid or gave something

1. Call your bank or card company now, at the number on your card. Say it was fraud and ask them to stop or reverse the payment. Time matters.
2. Stop all contact with the scammer. Pay no one who offers to get the money back: that is a second scam.
3. If you gave a password, change it, and change any account that uses the same one. Start with your email, from a device you trust.
4. If you let someone into your computer, disconnect it from the internet (our own precaution), then run a full scan with its built-in protection.
5. If you gave your Social Security number, go to IdentityTheft.gov for a recovery plan.
6. Write down what happened, each call and each reference number on the incident log.

What to do by how you paid is in when something goes wrong. This manual cannot tell you whether money will come back.

You can't get into an account, or think it was hacked

1. Use the company's own recovery page, reached from its sign-in page, typed in yourself. Do not use a search ad.
2. Use a device and a place you have signed in from before, if you can. For Google, wrong guesses do not lock you out.
3. Do not pay anyone who offers to recover the account. Google says you cannot call it for help signing in, and Microsoft's agents cannot send reset links.
4. Once you are back in, change the password, sign out of other devices, and check the recovery phone, recovery email and any forwarding rules.
5. Warn your contacts if messages went out in your name.

The green box above names the recovery page for your email, if you saved one in setup. The full steps are in when something goes wrong.

Your phone is lost or stolen

1. Mark it lost from another device. iPhone or iPad: go to icloud.com/find, which needs no code. Android: go to android.com/find.
2. Call your phone company to suspend the line, so no one can receive your codes.
3. Change your email password from another device if find-and-erase was not turned on.
4. Erase it only once you are sure it will not come back.

Apple says to leave your contact details off the lock screen and not to try to get a stolen phone back yourself. More in when something goes wrong.

Free help and where to report

• Report fraud: ReportFraud.ftc.gov (FTC), or 1-877-382-4357. It shares reports with law enforcement and does not resolve single cases.
• Internet crime: ic3.gov (FBI). Report quickly if money moved. IC3 does not call people who file.
• A person to help you report: National Elder Fraud Hotline (US Department of Justice), 1-833-372-8311, Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern.
• To check whether something is a scam: AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline, 877-908-3360, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern. Free; guidance, not investigation.

More numbers are in who to call and where to report.